Stereophile 2014 Recommended Components

I think the magazine publishes this every six months, as a magazine filler !

Infact they do not even update prices of these components.

Many prices are up by 30% from when they were reviewed. I even highlighted that on the Stereophile forum a few years ago, but they simoply siad that the recommendations are distilled from the original reviews.

I also note that the brief recommendations do not necessarily indicate What specific aspect(s) were outstanding for the recommendation.... For that you have to read the original review... LOL !

As a result, I skip these pages ( I am a print and electronic format subscriber to Stereophile)...
 
What an amazing rating for the KEF LS50 Annversary Model!
Rated Class A (Restricted Extreme LF) and right up there with the heavyweights.

I only hope that dealers don't markup this model too much.
 
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What an amazing rating for the KEF LS50 Annversary Model!
Rated Class A (Restricted Extreme LF) and right up there with the heavyweights.

I only hope that dealers don't markup this model too much.

It was marked up pretty heftily over the international price even when it was launched.

The issue with the KEF is that it needs electronics a multiple of its price to really shine. Great speaker though
 
It was marked up pretty heftily over the international price even when it was launched.

The issue with the KEF is that it needs electronics a multiple of its price to really shine. Great speaker though

Who are the dealer/distributors for KEF in India?
Can't seem to get anything from their website.

Edit: Just found out via Google ... ProFX seems to be dealer/distributor.
 
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Just auditioned the Kef ls50 today at Pro-Fx with my sugden amp.
Just got stunned by the midrange.Its a very very special speaker.The vocals are live and transparent.The best bookshelf I have heard so far considering the B&W 6 series,Epos M12i ,Spendor 3/5r2 , dynaudio x12,quads,dali ,usher at 1.5 L.
Its a must listen for a Bookshelf-holic!!!!
 
It was the only speaker out of a whole room-full, at the last Chennai meet that I liked. Some of the others were huge, doubtless much more expensive too, but it was like a bad overdose of bass until these were connected.
 
I really wanted to like this one LS50 , almost decided on it based on the reviews - even before auditioning it !!! . But did not like the mids compared to the classical LS3/5a , this was stronger in other areas though.

It may be due to the lack of drive or synergy mismatch with the the amplifier/source or the demo room which was fully treated for HT or my expectation was way too high or may be it is just the personal preference .

As Jai pointed out , i think it demands a very good upstream , which i did not have during the audition .
 
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Keith, give them a listen.

Dave, what electronics did you hear them with? I've been reading about these speakers a little and they are essentially the mid + HF section of the KEF Blade. Partnering electronics would make a huge difference.
 
Just auditioned the Kef ls50 today at Pro-Fx with my sugden amp.
Just got stunned by the midrange.Its a very very special speaker.The vocals are live and transparent.The best bookshelf I have heard so far considering the B&W 6 series,Epos M12i ,Spendor 3/5r2 , dynaudio x12,quads,dali ,usher at 1.5 L.
Its a must listen for a Bookshelf-holic!!!!

Hmmm ... your comparison makes me to re-audition this with diff electronic .
 
Here's a question that could open a can of worms ;) ...

Allowing for personal taste and the usual "They recommend X, but not Y, and Y is much better" stuff, is there anything actually bad on Stereophile's lists?

I wouldn't have expected that to be so, but hey, life is about getting illusions shattered :lol:
 
When you have people like my friend, who is using Emotiva XPA-1 Monoblocks to get the LS50's to do what they say they do, then that should put things in perspective.

As for my experience with the LS50's, I heard them @ PROFX, paired with a Denon PMA1500 amp & also with a peachtree audio decco65. End result of above combo's
was that the LS50's sounded rather very ordinary & I just felt why the big fuss being made over these speakers? For lesser outlay, I'd rather go with another pair of speakers, which arn't fussy over amplification & beat the LS50's hollow/black & blue :lol:

But anyway, we are here to discuss stereophile's recommendations, of which the LS50's belong to :rolleyes: Gives me a good perspective of Stereophile as well ;)
 
As for my experience with the LS50's, I heard them @ PROFX, paired with a Denon PMA1500 amp & also with a peachtree audio decco65. End result of above combo's was that the LS50's sounded rather very ordinary & I just felt why the big fuss being made over these speakers? For lesser outlay, I'd rather go with another pair of speakers, which arn't fussy over amplification & beat the LS50's hollow/black & blue :lol:

You could make the same statement about a lot of excellent speakers - put ordinary amplification in front of them and they sound just as ordinary as the amplifier powering them. If someone wants to spend US$1k each on source and amplification, they are not going to get much out of these speakers - they are just too sensitive of partnering equipment for the price they sell at. Ironically, that is one crib that wouldnt be there if Kef decided to sell them at US$3k or more
 
Bought KEF LS50 six months back for 1 lakh. I was using it with NAD C356BEE. While it was huge improvement over my Polk Audio RTi 7, I thought they could sound better. Changed my NAD with Primare I30. Now they sound amazing.
 
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
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